


Liquid

by Sarita1046



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Cardassian Anatomy, Extremely Dubious Consent, Gen, Humiliation, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Touch Telepathy, Xenophilia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 07:54:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11031885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarita1046/pseuds/Sarita1046
Summary: A glimpse into Odo's backstory right before his transfer to Terok Nor (DS9). Also, speculation into what the Cardassian Neck Trick might be.





	Liquid

**Author's Note:**

> Set prior to the episode "The Alternate" - that entire storyline suggested Odo has some sort of significant trauma that is triggered by the arrival of Dr. Mora Pol.
> 
> Musical inspiration: "Katyusha" by Marina Devyatova

When it came to feeling like an outsider on the station, Odo realized that many on board felt that he was exaggerating. After all, there was a plethora of different species assigned to Deep Space Nine on both an ongoing and temporary basis. Being alien was nothing new to most of these people. 

If Odo was honest, that was probably the main reason he tended to gravitate toward Quark – that sense of ‘otherness’. Though seldom solitary, the Ferengi were often regarded as untrustworthy and although Odo had a duty to keep a close eye on Quark’s activities for such reasons, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of relief to not be the sole source of skepticism on the part of the crew.

Surely, many would assume that being exoticized as Odo had been for the majority of all his seven solar cycles was better than being a constant scapegoat for anything that went wrong on the station. 

It wasn’t, however. Not in his opinion. Odo was a stickler for the rules and was immensely grateful to serve as head of Security aboard DS9. He enjoyed keeping people safe. Before this opportunity with Starfleet came along, Dr. Mora Pol of Bajor had been his tunnel view of the world. Odo always did what he was told – he knew no better. 

And yet, even then he knew. Because neither on Bajor nor on DS9 had he encountered another non-solid being. Fundamentally, Odo remained very much the outsider. He simply did not understand the social rituals of these humanoids. 

And every day…holding a form that felt so _confining_. Spending the majority of his days in this restrictive solid state was enough to make him want to scream. Honestly, the lengths he had to go to convince these creatures that he was a sentient, intelligent life form...

There was only one occasion when he didn’t feel freer in his natural state.

When entertaining the Cardassian overseers back on Bajor, Dr. Mora had been decent – as decent as one could expect from a scientist toward the orphaned species upon whom he was experimenting:

“Odo. You may not have to masquerade as humanoid for the entire night,” he’d offered late one afternoon on their way to the entertainment hall at the military center, where the various prisoners and experiments would often put on shows for the Cardassian personnel.

“Doctor?” Odo prompted. 

“Just do as they say. The Neck Trick we've been practicing will likely come into play tonight. Take care not to disappoint and all should go smoothly,” was all Mora Pol replied as they entered the mess hall of the Command Center. 

It was crowded tonight. Odo felt his limbs quivering with the many eyes on him. The lively folk music seemed to reverberate all around him, and he couldn't tell whether the tune was Cardassian or Bajoran.

It didn’t take long before a relatively tall Cardassian approached, looking down slightly at him. 

“Dr. Mora Pol,” said the Cardassian, eyes never leaving Odo.

“Commander Anda,” Mora lowered his gaze respectfully. 

“Is this it?” Anda inspected Odo with his gaze. “Can hardly tell him apart from just another humanoid species.”

Odo kept his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes averted, fixating on the commander’s breastplate. 

Just then, Anda brushed a finger lightly along Odo’s chin and let his hand fall just as quickly back to his side. 

“What can you do? What can you _be_?”

Odo wanted very much to pool onto the floor and ripple away.

But he didn’t. Mora Pol was here. It would be fine. “Anything,” Odo leveled his gaze with Anda’s. 

“Good then,” Anda actually smiled, “It has no reproductive organs, correct Doctor?”

“That’s correct, sir,” Mora Pol replied swiftly, “He takes his form from those around him.”

“I see the resemblance. The hair,” Anda almost chuckled. 

Odo’s pale blue gaze flitted briefly upward and then averted once more.

“Well then, shifter, liquid might suit after all,” said Anda and Odo’s core felt cold, “Come with me. Let’s lose this crowd.”

When Odo glanced surreptitiously back at Mora Pol, Anda waved him off. “You won’t need your owner just now. This won’t take long.”

Stiffly, Odo complied, following Anda out of the hall and around several bends where they came to what appeared to be a small sleeping quarters. 

“Now then,” Anda began again good-naturedly, “I have to be getting back to the men. You’ll keep Lar company for a bit. Entertain her a bit so she’ll stop pestering me for bringing her along on a trip she finds so dull.”

“Lar?” Odo managed.

“It speaks!” Anda declared loudly and Odo again fought the urge to collapse into a puddle and let himself evaporate. “Yes, Lar. My wife. Lar, please come here! I’ve a gift for you.”

After a moment, there a emerged a female Cardassian from the back room. She wasn’t dressed so formally as her husband – in fact, she looked to be in casual lounging attire. Loose slacks and an undershirt.

Odo had never seen so much skin on anyone. Again, he was struck by the bizarre appearance of the rough texture of skin. 

After glancing over Odo, Lar said something in Cardassian and Anda laughed again, replying smoothly. Toward the end of the exchange, Anda’s voice dropped to a more serious note and he made a gesture toward the ceiling, to which Lar nodded fervently. Odo assumed they might be discussing the surveillance cameras in the room.

Then Anda left, leaving Odo alone with this Cardassian woman. 

She tried speaking to him, of course. Evidently, the need for universal translators hadn’t occurred to Commander Anda.

“I apologize, ma’am,” he replied in Bajoran, “I do not speak Cardassian.”

“I speak little Bajoran,” Lar replied softly. “Help me…with sleep.”

Odo was at a loss. “Ma’am – forgive me. How?”

Lar opened her mouth as if to speak, then her lips closed again. Raising a hand, she ran her fingers gently across the base of her neck.

“Do this for me,” she stated plainly.

Well that seemed easy enough. Anything that got him out of here and back to Mora Pol. The scientist might view Odo as little more than an experiment, but at least he seldom insisted upon direct physical contact. Their only such interaction thus far had been to practice the neck trick, in case Odo should ever be asked to perform it. Each time, the doctor had allowed Odo to use his fingers and Mora had always remained entirely benign and professional about the whole thing.

As Odo went to close the distance with a hand extended, Lar held out her own hand to stop him. 

“No. As water,” she deadpanned. 

Odo nearly shivered. It was never mentioned that the 'neck trick' might involve the use of his liquid state. Besides, no one save Mora Pol ever saw him in his natural state. Not completely natural, in any case. This would be synonymous to the humanoid state of nudity...

“Please, no,” Odo nearly stammered, “I am sorry. I cannot.”

Lar turned then and withdrew something from beneath the pillow on the bed. Then striding up to Odo, she aimed a phaser at his throat.

“Water. _Now_.”

Odo realized that even if he could manage to liquefy before she fired the phaser, the punishment for defying a Cardassian’s orders would be severe. Moreover, Mora Pol would be subject to any consequences that Odo’s actions might evoke. He couldn’t risk that for his sole guardian. 

Eyes glazing over, Odo allowed his form to revert to its natural state. 

Swiftly, Odo’s liquid form slithered over Lar’s feet, up her thighs, abdomen, chest and finally settled at her neck. Ever so slowly, he began twining about her neck as she sat upon the bed. The first observation he felt within his sensory matrix was uncertainty…followed by intense pleasure. Odd. He'd never sensed such a sensation from Mora. There must be something special about the neck among Cardassians. He steeled himself, resolving not to allow these sensations to reflect back onto him. 

His body pooled into the deep ridges of her throat and shoulders, undulating about as his senses picked up the dull sound of her sighs.

Then she reclined back on the mattress. He could feel her fingertips lightly brushing through his essence, her sighs building into soft whimpers as he took the cue and sped up his movements - until at last, she cried out.

Then, within minutes, she was asleep. Odo reassumed solid form, sitting beside her on the bed. Limply, he slid down to the floor, arms around his knees. For perhaps the first time ever, he felt securest in solid form.

Anda re-entered then, speaking lowly but with a smile so gleeful Odo would never forget it. "Nicely done. Lar's a scientist back home, she speaks very little Bajoran. Glad to see the language barrier didn't deter anything," he mused, upon seeing Lar's sleeping form. "Well-behaved as well, I see." 

Odo assumed that must have had something to do with why Anda had asked Mora Pol whether Odo had reproductive organs. So he had been watching the camera footage...

"Sir," Odo bowed his head and made to take leave of the quarter. 

“Not so fast, shifter,” Anda purred. “Now you’re going to help _me_ sleep. Come, be yourself. Liquid. Just as before.”

And Odo had never felt more exposed or humiliated in his life.

Yes, there were surveillance cameras in this room. Four, in fact. He would later find out from Mora Pol that both he and Lar had apparently been broadcast live in the mess hall. This rift over her privacy had enticed a fit from Lar, after which she and Anda soon left the compound. 

So a Cardassian commander’s wife had been humiliated and now the word was out that this specimen of the isolate shape-shifter race was good for indulging the erogenous zones of myriad species. Incidentally, it was typically only Cardassians who called on him and then, usually the females.

With passing time, Odo convinced himself that surely this was better than when Mora had thought him non-sentient. When the doctor had exposed him to extreme temperatures and electrical charges before the shifter had finally figured out how to change shape and get the scientist to notice that Odo was sentient.

Indeed. Indulging Cardassians in their physical desires was unquestionably preferable to torture. Even when, with each passing session, Odo had to control his sensory intake further not to be affected by what the recipient was feeling. He never told Dr. Mora about this sensory telepathy. In fact, the amount of pleasure with which it threatened him shamed him greatly. Besides, Odo didn't think he could handle any further experimentation.

As it happened, Odo's shapeshifting abilities were eventually seen as better suited to keeping resident criminals at bay than simply entertaining the Cardassians. Within the same year, he was fortunate enough to be transferred to Terok Nor to be trained in security. Such a change allowed him to take control not just over his own lifestyle, but also many events on the station. Soon thereafter, the Cardassians had been forced to withdraw, replaced by Federation authorities.

Yet that feeling of walking as an alien among hostile races who likely distrusted and might fetishize you remained perpetual when living and working alongside solid life forms. Oh, he'd tried to develop a friendship with that one Klingon ensign, following Mora Pol's parting advice that he find companionship. He soon found, however, that her dictation of all the activities they tried together felt like just another day either performing for others or taking orders on the job. He simply did not understand why humanoids felt the need to play these games of compromise or hot and cold displays of interest. Most friendships never lasted anyway. 

If anything, the incident with Lwaxana Troi made Odo realize just how significantly he feared the touch of humanoids. Especially within close proximity and no way out. The panic at a familiar type of humiliation had become physical in nature. She had been the first to see him revert to a completely natural form due to his own biological requirements, rather than coercion. He supposed it was preferable to being held at phaser point. Moreover, Lwaxana had actually kept his liquid form safe, rather than expect him to use it to entertain her in some fashion. Provided her otherwise pushy nature, that had been a favorable surprise.

Now that he was free of occupied territory and actually had some autonomy and command of his own, he absolutely needed to find others like him. More than anything, he hoped that coming aboard this station would take him one step closer.


End file.
